ROXAS City — Fire razed the 24-year-old building of an orphanage in Brgy. Lonoy here on Saturday.

The fire broke out about 4:30 a.m., starting from the second floor of the St. Joseph Orphanage, Fire Officer 2 Marlon Garbo, arson investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) here, said.

It could have been due to a ceiling fan that overheated, according to Garbo.

It took the BFP an hour to put out the fire with the assistance of the different fire stations in the province, Garbo said.

Fire officials pegged the damages at P1.2 million.

No one got hurt among the 25 children — three of them were babies — in the orphanage.

A certain Christian Chu along with four other residents near the orphanage rescued some of the children.

The blaze had already spread when some of the caretakers and orphan children returned from attending a dawn Mass in nearby Brgy. Loctugan.

The children were temporarily transferred to the St. Avila Parish dormitory, also an orphanage run by Dominican sisters, also in Brgy. Loctugan.

Fire officials are considering other factors that might have triggered the fire./PN

PIA to cite top performing info officers

ROXAS City — Top performers in the government’s information work will be recognized by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Capiz today.

At least five public information officers who are members of the Capiz Association of Government Public Information Officers (CAGPIO) will be honored during the PIA-initiated year-end conference and awards.

The first three information officers were recently conferred by PIA Director General Atty. Jose Fabia and Regional Director Ma. Janet C. Mesa as the 2010 Best Performing Information Officers in Western Visayas.

On the other hand, the head of office of the outstanding information officers will likewise be recognized during the occasion.

The year-end conference is an annual activity of Capiz Information Center for the CAGPIO members to assess the advocacy activities of the various national government as well as local government units as well as strengthen camaraderie and partnership among its members.

Part of this year’s activity is a lecture on Personality Development and Healthy Lifestyle by Dr. Cesar Yap Jr.

Mesa, on the other hand, is expected to grace the conference. (Jemin B. Guillermo/PIA/PN